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After becoming king of Babylon, Cyrus was faced with a great problem, how was he to govern all the land he had conquered? The result was that Cyrus created the first type of federal government, having units divided between Satraps, who ruled under his name. the Satraps would deal with smaller matters in their areas, and they would report larger and more important issues to Cyrus. There were 26 Satraps introduced in Cyrus’s reign. The area over which these Satraps ruled were called Satrapies, although there were other members of Cyrus’s court that travelled between Satrapies to report directly to the king. This ensured that that the Satraps never had too much power.

Possibly the most notable part of Cyrus’s reign was the creation of the Cyrus cylinder. The king is said to have been very tolerant of other customs and religions, taking in part in Babylonian festivals and being blessed by their gods. He created the Cyrus Cylinder as a form of propaganda, but also the first ever declaration of human rights. It was an idea that the United Nations continued with, creating the more well known, modern version of human rights. The Cylinder declares that everyone is allowed freedom of thought and choice and all individuals should pay respect to one another.

Cyrus had fought many battles in his time conquering many empires, but his death was to be in battle as well. It is said that he made a marriage proposal to Queen Tomyris of the Masagete tribe, however she refused, and both armies went to battle. Cyrus laid a trap however, killing many of the troops and the Queen’s son. The Queen then defeated the Persians and most of them were killed including Cyrus. Herodotus believed that the Queen decapitated Cyrus and laid his head in blood, to fulfil the bloodlust that had cost her a son.

The remains of Cyrus’s tomb remain in Shiraz, in modern day Iran, where Iranians come from all over the country to pay their respects. As with most of Cyrus’s life, there are stories about his tomb as well most importantly how Alexander the Great, the biggest rival of the Achaemenid Empire, ordered the restoration of Cyrus’s tomb. Although the Macedonian king defeated the Achaemenids in battle 200 years after Cyrus’s reign, he was a great admirer of Cyrus. When he visited the great king’s tomb after his important victory, he saw that thieves had destroyed the tomb and stolen many things. Out of his sheer respect and admiration for Cyrus, he ordered that the tomb to be restored and rebuilt and all the possessions be replaced.